The Weekend Chef

Sunday, September 5, 2010

I roasted a whole chicken once. It was a lot of work, a lot of sweat, and a lot of waiting around wondering how it would turn out. In the end? Meh. It was just OK. I felt like all my efforts resulted in a bland, slightly slimy dinner.This time, I decided to turn to my trusty kitchen friend, the Crock Pot. She's rarely let me down and when I found a simple recipe for roasted chicken, slow cooker style, I knew I had to give it a go.This chicken is full of flavor, a fix it and forget it contender, and still just as messy!We served this chicken with roasted brussel sprouts and Kalamata pasta salad the first night and used the remaining meat in other dishes. I hope you can find an opportunity to put it to the test and enjoy hassle-free meals all week long.Cheers!MM

The Process:-Wash chicken, cleaning out cavity, and pat dry.-Combine spices and room temperature butter in a small dish. Add half the fresh garlic and mix ingredients until combined.-Take small amounts of butter mixture in your hand and rub under chicken skin on breast and thigh meat. Rub remaining mixture over chicken skin.-Stuff chicken cavity with bell peppers, 1/2 the onion and remaining garlic.-Place remaining onion in bottom of slow cooker and place chicken breast side down on top on onion.-Cover Crock Pot and set on low. Cook for 6-8 hours until chicken is done (About 175 degrees, no longer pink, juices run clear).-Pull meat from bones and enjoy!

I will admit to being a bit of a pizzaholic. I honestly could eat pizza once a week, if not more often. However, when it comes to making pizza at home, I have been a big baby. I don't know why but pizza dough totally intimidated me. Until now!

A few weeks ago, I finally broke down and purchased my new favorite kitchen accessory: The KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Isn't she beautiful?

I guess now would be the time to confess that I had previously vowed that I did not need such a ginormous gadget in MY kitchen... until I literally broke my hand/stand mixer last Christmas whilst making cookies. But that's a whole other post!

Back to the pizza....

The stand mixer makes this dough recipe fairly easy to follow, especially if you use all bread flour instead of mixing in the whole wheat. I am still working on getting the hang of forming a round, truly round, pizza pie. Guess that just means I need to practice more often!

The Process:-In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the flour, salt, sugar, and yeast.

-Heat the oil and oregano in a small saucepan over medium low heat until warm and fragrant. Mix in the water and white wine and simmer until mixture begins to bubble slightly.

***Note: Make sure you read the instructions for your mixer speed requirements for pizza/bread dough before proceeding***

-With the mixer on low speed, pour in the liquid mixture. Continue mixing on medium-low speed until the dough comes together, and then knead on medium-low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic (about 8-10 minutes).Add more flour or water as necessary to form a dough that is sticky but does not cling to the sides of the bowl. When the mixer is running on medium-low speed, the dough should not stick to the bottom of the bowl. (I had to add about 3 Tbsp. more flour, which may have been from the increased amount of wine I used).

-Spray a large bowl with non-stick spray. Coat your hands with oil, then quickly form the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap.Either set the dough aside to rise at room temperature, which will take 1½ to 2 hours, or refrigerate it until the next day. If it’s chilled overnight, it will take about 5 hours at room temperature to warm and finish rising.

-Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

-Divide the dough and shape each portion into a ball. The original recipe states it makes enough dough for three 12-inch pizzas. Apparently the Mr. and I are pigs because we only divided it in half. Let the dough relax while oven preheats.

-Work with one ball of dough at a time on a lightly floured surface. Flatten the dough, then pick it up and gently stretch it out, trying to keep it as circular as possible. Curl your fingers and let the dough hang on your knuckles, moving and rotating the dough so it stretches evenly. If it tears, just piece it together. If the dough stretches too much, put it down and gently tug on the thick spots.

-Dust a pizza peel lightly with cornmeal and transfer the round of dough to the peel (We don't have a peel or pizza stone, so I used a regular cookie sheet). Stab it several times with a fork.

-Add the sauce and toppings of your choice, then bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the crust is spotty brown.

Monday, June 14, 2010

I try to cook health conscious foods, I really do! But every once in a while you've just got to let it all go and indulge! For me, that jump off the tracks typically involves cheese. Lots AND lots of cheese. Yum!This recipe makes good use of a smaller amount of cheese and it is from Cooking Light, so it can't be that bad, right? Well if it is, I don't want to be right!The delicious taste of chicken tamales without the hassle of making them from scratch when it is a weeknight and you just want to hurry up and watch your favorite DVRed shows.Cheers!MM

Pasta salad just embodies Summer to me. But as you will find at most festive BBQs in the steamy months, pasta salad is usually loaded down with heavy dressings and fatty ingredients. Not to mention all those carbs in the star of the dish.I found this alternative in my trusty Cooking Light subscription and added my own twist to make it a Mr. and Mrs. favorite summer-time staple.Cheers!MM

My Dad and step mom came to visit and we visited our favorite local seafood provider to pick up some shrimp cocktail. While there, we spotted these beautiful Halibut fillets and I knew that had to come home with us. I had saved this recipe about a year ago and now was the time to whip it out and put it to use.These fillets turned out very light, perfectly flaky and full of flavor. An easy weeknight meal that will leave you room for a glass of wine, dessert... or both : )

Process:-Whisk vinegar, honey, oil and garlic in a glass bowl. Place halibut in an 8-inch baking dish and pour marinade over, coating fish completely. Cover and refrigerate up to 4 hours.-Preheat broiler and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray with cooking spray.-Remove fish from marinade and place on baking sheet.-Broil fillets about 12 minutes, until they are lightly browned on top and cooked through.-Pour reserve marinade into a small saucepan. Bring sauce to a boil and simmer. Continue to whisk mixture until it becomes thick and syrupy.

Dear readers- RUN! Run to your kitchen and make.these.chops!!!! Does that give you an idea of how fabulous I think this recipe is? Wow. The Mr. and I are trying to buy more bulk meats at our local Sam's Club to cut down on our weekly bill at the grocery store and to add to our convenience when cooking. We had these beautiful, thick, boneless pork chops just begging to step up to the plate (our plates, that is). So I went to my recipe folder and started digging for inspiration. I had saved this recipe from an old copy of Cooking Light (my own version of a Bible) and decided to try it out since we had most of the ingredients on hand. Let's just say I think some divine intervention came into play ; )We served them with a spring mix, steamed green beans and sauteed, tri-colored peppers.Cheers!MM

There's nothing better, in my humble cook's opinion, than grilling out during the summer months. I am by no means adept at handling said grill. That is the Mr's area of expertise. BUT! I do get involved with the preparations before the food hits the sizzle.We eat quite a bit of turkey in the Mr./Mrs. household. I like the fact that it tastes lighter and we tend to buy the leanest cuts available to make our meals somewhat healthier. But I will admit that turkey can be B-O-R-I-N-G! So I started searching for ways to jazz up our old standby. This recipe works with fresh or dried herbs and spices and is sure to add some zest to your summer gathering.Cheers!MM

Process:Mr. likes to spread the ground turkey out on a cutting board (strictly used for raw meat!) and evenly distribute the remaining ingredients before mixing by hand. Pack combined mixture into patties, making sure to press tightly so they stay formed on the grill. Add to the fire and cook to desired temperature (about 7 minutes per side).